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Sunday, September 11, 2005

Reflecting on lessons not learned

Four years after the 9/11 tragedy our nation remains unprepared to deal with catastophe, as evidenced by hurricane Katrina. What is even more unsettling is that Katrina was expected - in 2001 FEMA warned that a category three or greater hurricane striking New Orleans would be a disaster. If we can not prepare for a known crisis with days notice how can we expect this gov't to respond competently to an unpredicted one? Joe Conason of Salon writes in an editorial that we can not. I fully endorse the sentiments expressed by Conason. From the conclusion:

Four years ago, as we contemplated potential threats from the enemies of civilization, it was impossible to conceive of the vast damage that our own government would inflict upon America before those enemies could strike again. The danger from the perpetrators of 9/11 has not abated, and suddenly we know how vulnerable we remain -- because the federal officials who have sworn to defend us, beginning with the president, have neither the character nor the competence to fulfill that oath.